The markets opened lower as oil prices surged to a new record high. Meanwhile, retailers reported better than expected sales in February. The Dow lost 61 points to 12,193 while Nasdaq slipped 3 points to 2269.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slipped 2 points to 681.